Release your inner child (and enjoy)

Rating: 7/10 (11 August 2014)

Okay, being a fully grown man, perhaps I should have grown out of enjoying watching big, over the top monsters smashing big, over the top robots to bits by now. Sadly, I haven't (which also probably explains why I'm single).
If you're looking at Pacific Rim (a film where big, over the top monsters come out from a portal at the bottom of the ocean and start laying waste to our cities, therefore meaning Earth creates an army of big, over the top robots to stop them) on an action-only basis, then it's a sure fire winner. Yes, I loved the action - it was truly amazing special effects wise and I was instantly a twelve-year-old boy again.
Sadly, I'm also a thirty-six year old adult, which means that my logical brain does demand some sort of cohesive plot to tie a two-hour film together. This is where Pacific Rim fell down. It seemed to take every action cliché from the last two decades and put them in here. A fair part of the story is told in a 'Lord of the Rings-style' monologue at the very beginning of the film, eliminating the need for any complex plots - it just tells us what's been going down. Then we have the need to recruit the burned-out ex robot pilot who's quit the service, but is the only hope we have now (a cliché so old it was lampooned in Hot Shots Part Deux), plus, when our hero does step up to the challenge, he's met with suspicion and downright hostility from the other pilots (think Team America of all films!). Then throw in the obligatory 'love interest' and dialogue that seems as if it's been completely lifted from Independence Day and you have a weird mish-mash of action films.
However, all this may be cliché, but you still have the epic battles to fall back on. I forgave all this and just let my inner child enjoy itself. The only real downside were the (yes, clichéd) scientists. Seriously... they're 'uber-geeky' to such an extreme they wouldn't look out of place in a cartoon. In my opinion, if you're looking for a silly, over the top, all action film then you'll enjoy what's on offer here (I just fast-forwarded the scientists in the end - they could well be related to Jar Jar Binks - they're that bad!).
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